This weekend, Railroad Earth played Arkansas’ Hillberry: The Harvest Moon Festival, offering two-set performances on both Saturday and Sunday after having confirmed the death of band co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling on Friday evening. RRE took the opportunity to honor their fallen friend and bandmate to open their first set of the weekend, and later welcomed bluegrass icon Sam Bush for a couple songs on Sunday.

As JamBase report, Railroad Earth’s opening song of the weekend, “Sing For Me”—an enduring, bittersweet bluegrass tune with lyrics by late singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens—echoed the band’s statement on Goessling’s passing, which ended with the lyrics “How dear to my heart, how precious the moments/ We stood side by side, singing a song.” RRE mandolinist John Skehan then introduced the second song on Saturday, noting that it was the final tune he “had the privilege of playing” with Goessling and inviting the crowd to join the band in the “celebration of Andy, a lifetime of music and countless lifetimes of joy shared through music.” The band then ran through the 17th-century Irish instrumental “Tabhair dom do Lámh,” which translates to “Give Me Your Hand.”

Later on Saturday, Railroad Earth opened their second set with a festival-appropriate cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” and also included a run of the Grateful Dead’s “Terrapin Station.” On Sunday, the group returned to the stage for two more sets, the first of which featured Bush on violin for the final two songs, “Where Song Begin” and “Fisherman’s Blues.”

Below, see the full setlists from the weekend, along with full-show video of Saturday’s performance via RRE’s Facebook Live stream.

 

Railroad Earth
Hillberry: The Harvest Moon Festival, Eureka Springs, AR

Saturday:

Set I: Sing for Me, Tabhair dom do Lámh, Long Way To Go, Saddle of the Sun, Grandfather Mountain, Mourning Flies, Came Up Smilin’, Cold Water, Storms

Set II: Harvest Moon, Elko, Blazin’ a Trail, Bird in a House, For Love, Birds of America> 1759> Terrapin Station> Seven Story Mountain

Notes: This show featured Matt Slocum on keyboards

 


Sunday:

Set I: Soul of a Man, Lordy, Lordy, Head, Dandelion Wine, Farewell to Isinglass> Raven’s Child, Where Songs Begin*> Fisherman’s Blues*

Set II: Walk Beside Me, Chasin’ a Rainbow, Mighty River, Addin’ My Voice> Lone Croft Farewell, The Hunting Song, Captain Nowhere, Like a Buddha

Notes: This show featured Matt Slocum on keyboards
*w/ Sam Bush

Source: facebook.com/RailroadEarth